


A Prayer Wishing For Happiness

by carrotcouple



Series: A Story of Forevers [2]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23279539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrotcouple/pseuds/carrotcouple
Summary: “Yoon...aren’t you going to go see her?” Iksoo asked.Yoon turned to look up at Iksoo.“No,” Yoon said. “I don’t think I will.”
Relationships: Yona/Yoon | Yun (Akatsuki no Yona)
Series: A Story of Forevers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582912
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	A Prayer Wishing For Happiness

“Yoon!” Iksoo threw open the shrine doors and Yoon sat up, startled. 

“What is it?” Yoon asked. Iksoo  _ never _ threw open the shrine doors like that. Something serious must have happened. Yoon couldn’t sense anything wrong within his barriers so it must be something human in nature. Iksoo’s eyes were wide and he was panting heavily like he had run all the way from the priests’ quarters without tripping. 

“Yoon, Yona is back,” Iksoo said. 

Yoon stared dumbly at Iksoo for a second before his words registered. He shot to his feet and hurtled out of the shrine. He wanted to see her, he wanted to hear her voice, he wanted to hold her hands in his own. 

“Yoon!” Iksoo cried out behind him and then Yoon saw the barrier that stood erected in front of the shrine. 

The barrier meant to keep Yona out. 

Yoon skidded to a halt so fast he nearly fell down the stairs. 

“Yoon! Are you OK?” Iksoo hurried over to him. 

“I’m fine,” Yoon said quietly. He clenched his fists, nails digging fiercely into his palms and drawing blood. Every inch of the kitsune in him was demanding that he go see Yona and hold her close. But Yoon was a God. And Yona…

Yona had finally become human again. 

After eight whole years of suffering as something that was not human, she was finally human again. After eight years of seeing a world without Yoon in it, she had finally returned to a loving home. 

Yoon had no right to go barging into the life she had created for herself. 

It wouldn’t be fair of him. 

“Yoon...aren’t you going to go see her?” Iksoo asked. 

Yoon turned to look up at Iksoo. 

“No,” Yoon said. “I don’t think I will.” 

He turned on his heels and walked back into his shrine, digging his nails into his hands harder. 

Humans had hearts that changed constantly. 

It was most likely that Yoon was no longer someone Yona would want to spend an eternity with. Not after having seen just how much the world held, how much more she could discover. And even if she did still think of him, he couldn’t just let her give up everything for him again. She had gained so much more now, he was sure. She could even build a life with her father now. 

But she had never once left the side of the world that Yoon lived in. In the eight years that she had been gone, she had not once shown signs of never approaching the supernatural again. Instead Yoon would often wake up from naps in terror when he would sense her near a God. 

It always took him near destruction of his hands and several hours of pacing in panic to not run and go find Yona to protect her. 

_ Living without Yona for eight years had been torture and he had only known her for two months.  _

Yoon curled up in a corner of his shrine, the knowledge that Yona was within his barrier and with the people she loved at the forefront of his mind. 

He needed to calm down. 

It was alright. He had survived eight years. He could wait a little longer. 

* * *

He couldn’t really wait. 

He had been unable to sleep for two nights straight. 

“Yoon? You look horrible!” Taeyeon cried out, grabbing Yoon’s hand. Yoon turned to look at Taeyeon who had come with Hak. Hak was talking to Iksoo about Taeyeon’s upcoming school work. Yoon’s eyes widened and he pulled away from Yoon, walking over to Hak in a daze. 

It was different. It had changed over the years and had gotten more complex. 

But that was the smell of Yona. 

Hak had just met Yona before coming to the shrine with Taeyeon. 

“What are you doing?” Taeyeon nearly shrieked in Yoon’s ear. Yoon’s ears twitched in annoyance for a moment before realizing Iksoo was staring at him with mild horror as well. 

Yoon had been sniffing at Hak. 

“Wha-” Yoon raised his hands. “No. I wasn’t-No.” Yoon shook his head. “Listen! He smells like-” Iksoo and Taeyeon stared at him. Iksoo was one thing but Taeyeon was another. “Like…” Taeyeon blinked expectantly. Yoon let out a strangled noise of distress and then darted away. 

“Yoon?!” Iksoo and Taeyeon cried out. 

Yoon fled towards the apple trees. 

At this rate he wasn’t going to be able to keep himself from going to see Yona like he was telling himself to! He couldn’t believe he had reacted like that just by her smell! He had to prepare himself. Lili and Soowon visited the shrine frequently and so did Hak. It seemed like Taeyeon hadn’t met Yona yet, but he was bound to eventually. 

He slammed his head into a tree trunk, screaming muffled curses into the bark.

“Yoon?!” Iksoo asked and Yoon turned to see Iksoo had followed him. 

But first, he had to somehow learn to act normally. 

* * *

“I met Yona today,” Iksoo said.

Yoon could tell. Iksoo smelled like Yona. He dug his fists into his yukata and tried to stay still, nodding as calmly as possible. He wanted to ask Iksoo how Yona looked now. He wanted to ask Iksoo if she still smiled the way she used to. He wanted to ask Iksoo if she was happy now. He wanted to ask Iksoo if she still sometimes thought of him. 

He wanted to ask Iksoo if Yona was healthy without his blessing and Minsoo’s longevity spell. 

If she wasn’t, he would give her another blessing, even if she didn’t want to stay by his side any longer. It would be a foolish move, one that would make her a target again. But he wanted her to be healthy, to live a long life. 

He was selfish. 

“When you were on your shopping trip with Taeyeon?” Yoon asked. 

“That’s right,” Iksoo nodded. “It seems she’s been doing well.”

Of course she was. 

Everything she had ever wanted was finally in front of her eyes. Yoon only wanted her to be happy. And happy she would be if she stayed by the people she loved all her life. Which person in their right mind would throw away their humanity and live an eternity by a God while they watched everyone else around them perish and turn to dust? 

Who would choose the domain of the inhuman over the world of humans?

“That’s good,” Yoon said. 

“Aren’t you going to go see her?” Iksoo asked. 

_ I want to _ .

“No,” Yoon shook his head. 

* * *

Yoon woke up at the sound of someone entering shrine grounds. He dropped down from his sleeping spot among the apple tree branches and headed towards the altar. He was startled to see it was Il. Il had started coming to Yoon’s shrine more frequently after Yoon had picked him up from the ashes of what remained of a family he had wanted to protect but had been unable to. 

It had been difficult and some days Il refused to even look his way. But then he would hear of what Yona had been doing, of how she was running towards her dreams as fast as she could and he would ask Yoon for help. 

Il had lost his desperation a long time ago. 

Now he only came to the shrine to pray to a God who had let his daughter smile again. 

He tossed a coin into the altar, rang the bells and then clapped his hands together in prayer. 

“Please, let my daughter be happy,” Il whispered and Yoon’s ears twitched. “I want to give her the world, but I am powerless. I want to give her the world that she wants to see with her own eyes. But that world means that she will leave my side. Please give me the strength and the courage to tell Yona that it will be alright for her to continue running towards what she wants, even if it means leaving behind things she treasures. Please, give me the strength to let my daughter choose you.”

Yoon stared at Il with wide eyes. 

_ You don’t know if she’ll choose me _ .

Il looked to the side and at Yoon and Yoon realized he had spoken out loud, for Il to hear. 

“She will choose you,” Il said. “Because some nights she will stand at the kitchen window and stare in the direction of the shrine. Because she grooms that apple tree like it means the world to her. Because even when she’s with everyone and smiling like she could never want anything more, she goes quiet and stares at empty spaces. Because her dream is only perfect if you’re there in it.”

Yoon felt his heart thud against his ribcage. 

“And you’re fine with this?” Yoon asked Il. 

“Of course,” Il said. “I am a father and which father wouldn’t want to see their child get married someday?”

“Even if their partner is a God?” Yoon asked. 

“Yona loves you,” Il said. “That is enough.”

“But would she really throw away her life?” Yoon asked. He could hardly believe he was asking for confirmation from Il of all people. 

“That’s a strange thing to say. She wouldn’t be throwing away her life. She would be gaining a bigger life, broadening the world she sees. She would be able to live the life she grabbed onto with her own hands. All Yona needs is some time to give the people around her her love and say her goodbyes.” Il folded his hands together. 

Yoon watched Il walk away, feeling oddly empty. 

All the tension and anxiety had vanished. 

Yoon only needed to wait for what Yona chose. The choice had to be hers and he would wait however long he had to for her. 

* * *

_ Yona! _

Yoon jumped off the fox statue and came to stand at the stairs. Yona was running up the stairs, breathing heavily. She jumped onto the last step and their eyes met. She looked a little tired, but Il was right. She had barely aged at all. She smiled at him and Yoon felt his heart fill. She was so beautiful. Her red hair tousled softly in the breeze, her purple eyes were filled with all the things she had seen. She had grown into someone  _ she _ wanted to be. 

This decision was hers. 

She  _ wanted to be with him _ .

Yoon couldn’t believe it. She chose him out of everything else she could have chosen. 

When he pulled her through the barrier and into his arms, it was like the gaping emptiness in his soul over the past eight years had been filled. 

Yoon had never in his wildest dreams imagined he could be so happy. 

He hadn’t dared to think of such a thing after Nami and Yila had passed away. 

And yet here he was, the world in his arms. 

He pressed his mouth against the top of her head, feeling his eyes sting. Yona lifted her head to look at him, her eyes glassy and her smile so happy, Yoon felt his heart ache. 

“Yoon, I want to tell you this now,” Yona said. Yoon raised his eyebrows. “I love you. I will always love you and only you. I would like to spend an eternity with you, is that alright? Do you...want me?”

“Of course I want you,” Yoon said. “Always you.”

* * *

It was nice, sitting there hugging Yona tightly and both of them just listening to the sounds of each other’s breathing. It was so calming. They were in the shrine, curled up against each other not much unlike the first time Yona had entered his shrine years ago after running from her father in the rain. How far they had come since then. 

Iksoo had probably seen them heading to Yoon’s shrine from the priests’ quarters, but he hadn’t come out to see Yona. Yoon was grateful. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to talk to Iksoo without crying. It seemed impossible that he could love Iksoo and love Yona and be fine. 

“You know, I met a God and his wife and the child of the eagle God in Kuuto,” Yona said. Yoon stilled, trying to not to show obvious displeasure at the mention of a Mainland God. “They’re good people. They helped me survive. They helped me realize I could still love you and that I meant something to you.”

“I’m glad,” Yoon said. Because he was. Yoon tilted her head to look at him. Yoon realized she was asking him something. “After your father woke up, he was desperate. I put in everything I could to help him. I often didn’t want to, because he hurt you and you...you’re the most important thing. But you’re important to him and I think it was the desire to see you smile again the way I wanted to see you smile again was what pushed him into trying harder to get better.”

Yona sniffed. 

“Thank you,” Yona whispered. 

“Speaking of your father,” Yoon said. “It’s gotten very late. I know adults are allowed to stay out much later and your father doesn’t lose his mind at the thought of you arriving home late for dinner anymore, but it’s your birthday and this is far too late. It’s almost the end of your birthday.” 

“No,” Yona shook her head. “I’ll be staying here.” 

“But-” Yoon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

“Yoon, I told them where I was going. They were the ones who told me to go. They know that I won’t be going back...not the way you’re thinking at least,” Yona said. “I would like to stay here with you. Eight years is a long time, even when you’re nearly immortal.”

“Alright,” Yoon said, settling back down again. “Yona,”

“Hm?” Yona asked. 

“I love you,” Yoon said softly, pressing his lips against her forehead softly. 

They could talk about everything else later. They had an eternity.

**Author's Note:**

> I mentioned in the last chapter of 'Blue Skies and Eternity' that Yoon was going through a dilemma, but I never clarified what it was. Also, Yoon's spell to know when Yona approached a God was still on her, so every time she met Ayura or Zeno, Yoon FREAKED OUT. I have a bunch of other extras planned, so be sure to subscribe to the series!


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